News Briefs

The San Antonio executive Al J. Notzon III has been appointed chair of the U.S. Conference of Bishops’ National Review Board. His term begins in June. • New York’s Archbishop Timothy Dolan has denied that as bishop of Milwaukee he attempted to hide $130 million in diocesan funds from lawsuits by victims of sexual abuse. • John Sweeney, former president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O., was honored along with Stan Musial and Jean Kennedy Smith with a Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony on Feb. 15. • Masses have resumed on Yeonpyeong, the South Korean island shelled by North Korean artillery in November. Its population of 1,700 included 450 Catholics. • Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, the Vatican’s ambassador to Egypt, said on Feb. 11 that he hoped the country’s future would include greater social justice and freedom. “The events of recent weeks have produced a feeling of solidarity among Christians and Muslims,” he said, “a good basis for increased dialogue and cooperation in society.” • A U.K. judge, in a decision on Feb. 14 of London’s High Court, has turned back an attempt to reinterpret Britain’s 1967 Abortion Act to allow so-called “D.I.Y.” or “bedroom” abortions.